Thursday, April 30, 2009

Kane Waselenchuk should finish as the #1 player on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) regardless of what happens next week in Chicago at the Motorola IRT Pro Nationals based on the latest IRT rankings. Waselenchuk's achievement is all the more remarkable as he was out of professional racquetball for two seasons due to a positive drug test at the 2006 Canadian National Championships.

But he's hardly missed a beat, and has lost only one match this season.

Waselenchuk is 904 points ahead of Rocky Carson, who's #2 now. The Motorola Pro Nationals is a Grand Slam event, so it's worth more points than a Tier 1 event, but only about 600-650 based on what the Denver event was worth. Thus, as long as Waselenchuk doesn't stub his toe or something, and is able to play, he should finish #1 even if Carson wins the event.

But there are some interesting ranking possibilities with one tournament to go. For example, a good showing by Alvaro Beltran, now 4th, could be enough to overcome the 349 point difference between him and Jack Huczek in third, if Huczek doesn't do well in Chicago.

Also, Jason Mannino, Shane Vanderson and Mitch Williams, in the 5th-7th spots, are within 237 points of each other, so their performances in Chicago could make the difference in their final ranking. Mannino might be most under the gun there, as he missed a tournament earlier in the season, so that takes up one of the two results that players can drop from their total ranking results.